<p>Variations in soil signatures observed in satellite images around riverine wetlands have been noted throughout the Gangetic Plain. Studying these differences is essential for understanding the underlying processes of soil formation. This study focuses on the effects of riverine wetland degradation on soil chemical characteristics, evident as white patches in satellite images adjacent to the wetlands of the Ganga and Sai Rivers interfluve. Different soil samples, such as white-coloured barren soils, agricultural lands, and salt deposits in plant roots, were collected from the area adjacent to the Samaspur riverine wetland. Particle size analysis, chemical characterisation, clay mineralogy (XRD and FTIR), and elemental analysis (XPS) of the salt deposits have been conducted using standard methodology. The results show that white-coloured barren soils are mainly sandy, loam soils with sparse vegetation. The high content of sodium (~ 19846.63 ppm), ESP (~ 22.01%), pH (~ 10) value, and low content of soil organic matter (~ 1.596) suggest that white-coloured soil is highly sodic and saline in nature, i.e., salt-affected. Elemental analysis of the salt deposits shows that salt has a relatively high content of sodium, which may be responsible for the fragile and unfertile nature of white-coloured soil, which may be due to the depositional processes of high-content salt in the surficial soil through large uptake of nutrients from shallow groundwater condition through capillary action in the zone exposed after the degradation of riverine wetlands. An urgent protection of these vibrant riverine wetland ecosystems is needed to halt degradation and prevent adjoining soils from turning non-fertile (white patches).</p>